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“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” she says. “Word on the street is that the board hasn’t been happy with Dr. Dick for some time, and you, my friend, are a great physician. We’re lucky to have you here. He can go kick rocks.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.” I’m relieved to hear good feedback. “Let’s do this,” I say. After pulling my hair back, I grab my coffee and head to the pit, ready for our shift. And if they ask me to stay longer? The answer is hell no. I’m unavailable. I’ve got SJ back. I’m busy. And I plan on beingverybusy with him. We have twelve years of lost time to make up for.
* * *
By noon, I’ve already done sutures on two patients, helped a handful of people with the flu, and sent a broken arm off to surgery. The nurses here are all a godsend, and we all work well together. We have a great team, and I'll miss everyone—except Thad—if I don’t get hired here full time at this hospital. I can apply at a few other local hospitals, but I wanted to be back in Freedom Valley with Goldie and now SJ. I realize I’m smiling when I think of him.
I’m putting in a few orders at my desk when I hear one of our nurses raise her voice, and a patient says even louder, “What, are you dumb? IsaidI want a male doctor.”
I stand and walk toward the patient’s room in case things get out of control.
“Dr. McGraw is our doctor on call, and she’s great—”
“I saidmaledoctor. If it’s that blond Barbie out there, then no.” The male voice interrupts.
“We’re a smaller hospital, and she is the doctor we have on call,” she repeats calmly to the angry patient.
It’s not the first time this has happened. We usually just try to get these patients quickly fixed up and out of here to avoid further issues. When I did my residency in Boston, this didn’t happen. If a patient came in like that, they’d have been tossed out. No one played around in the busy Boston hospital emergency rooms. Hell, the other patients would have tossed this angry patient out. But here in the town of Freedom Valley, this hospital tolerates more than it should have of entitled patients.
I walk over to where the irate patient paces in front of Carly, one of our newer and nicest nurses. He’s obviously distraught and angry.
“Everything okay?” I ask politely from the door.
“No, it’s not. I told this nurse that I want arealdoctor,” the man practically spits as he says this.
“Is there a reason you would like a male physician?” I ask politely, trying to be kind and understand where he’s coming from. I always like to give the benefit of the doubt, but my gut is saying this guy is just being a jerk.
“Listen, if I wanted tits and ass, I’d have it. When I need medical attention, I want a real doctor,” he leers as he paces and glares at Carly and me.
I take a deep breath and respond as calmly as I can to this moron.
“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. You have two options. You can stay here and treat our staff with respect and receive the very best care.Oryou can leave and find another hospital to take care of you. I’m the doctor on call today. And I can assure you that Iama real doctor. I spent over two and a half decades in school, and I’m qualified to assist you if you choose the first option. Which will it be?” I remain calm and firm as I give him these options, but I have a bad feeling about how this will go, and I’m not looking forward to dealing with the fallout.
“No. I told you, I want a real doctor,” he says stubbornly and crosses his arms, glaring at me in disgust.
“What’s going on here?” someone says behind me, and Thad steps into the room. “I’m Dr. Douchet. How can I help you?” He smiles as he moves in to stand next to the angry man, assessing the cut on his arm wrapped up haphazardly in a bandage.
The patient looks relieved. “Thank God, this stupid Barbie here was trying to make me leave,” he accuses, pointing his finger at me.
“Oh, now we can’t have that. I can help you out. What’s the problem?” he asks, ignoring everything wrong with this situation. Carly looks at me wide eyed in disbelief, and I shake my head and toss my gloves in the trash as we head out of the room, her on my heels.
“What in the actual hell?” she whisper-breathes like a dragon.
“Stay calm, Carly. I’ll handle it,” I say as we head back to the pit. I sit down to finish my orders, but I’m shaking and too angry to focus. I know if I freak out and get upset, Carly will, too. I’ll deal with Thad. I spent over ten years living in New York and Boston. I can handle myself just fine here in the small town of Freedom Valley.
A couple of minutes later, Thad steps out and whistles obnoxiously at me to get my attention as he heads toward the pit where I’m sitting. I ignore him because I’m not a dog. I roll my eyes and continue to do my work. He stops by my desk and says, “Callie, I need you to get this gentleman…”
“Can I have a word with you, Dr. Douchet?” I snap as I stand and walk toward an empty room. I turn, and he doesn’t follow me, so I hold the door and wait for him, glaring at him.
“Callie, I don’t have time for this,” he chides as he sighs and enters the room. “What do you want?”
“First of all, my name is Dr. McGraw. Second, that patient was abusing me and my nurse, and you stepped in and allowed it. Not appropriate. And third, we’re done. DONE. You and me? We’re not together. We’re not even friends. We are colleagues, and you will treat me with respect. Do you understand, Dr. Douchet?” I stare at him and don’t waver. Scoffing, he steps back, shaking his head and glaring at me.
He rolls his eyes and checks his watch. “Callie, don’t be stupid,” he says with indifference.
I stare straight at him, wondering how someone can be so ignorant. “There is nothing further to be gained from this conversation. Do not speak to me again unless it is in a professional capacity. And I will be speaking to human resources about this incident.”
Carly and Ramie stand outside the door, watching this all go down. “Taking my break,” I call out to them as I turn and head down the hall.
